Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an shook his head as he replied without any hesitation, “You can raise the question, but I can’t allow myself to think along those lines, so there will be no answer.”

Ruan Xiu rested her chin on her hands as she looked into the distance and sighed, “You’re just like my father when it comes to these things. He’s extremely stubborn and has always refrained from searching for my mother’s current incarnation.

“He says that even if he manages to find her, she’ll no longer actually be my mother, and not everyone can recover their memories from their past life, so he would rather not see her again at all. Otherwise, he would be doing a disservice both to the memory of my mother residing in his heart and her current incarnation.”

Chen Ping’an offered no response as it wasn’t in his place to speak on any matters concerning Ruan Qiong.

“Did you bring back any gifts for me?” Ruan Xiu asked as she turned to him with a smile.

An awkward look appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face as he replied, “I didn’t dare to bring back anything for you as I thought that could potentially deepen any misunderstandings between us.”

He then smiled as he continued, “However, now that I’ve clarified everything, I can start bringing back gifts for you from my future journeys from now on.”

“How have you clarified everything?” Ruan Xiu asked with a smile.

A dumbstruck look appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face upon hearing this, and he hurriedly began retracing everything in his mind.

He felt like he had made his own feelings very clear regardless of whether Ruan Xiu had romantic feelings for him or not.

Ruan Xiu burst into laughter as she said, “Alright, I get it. You don’t like me that way, but you’re worried that I like you that way, and that made things very awkward for you. You were worried that if you were too direct about it, then I would be embarrassed, and that would ruin our friendship, right? Don’t worry, I’m fine, and I’m not just putting up a strong front.

“The way I like you is not the way that you think I like you. You’ll come to understand in the future, or you can ask that student of yours, Cui Dongshan. In any case, we’re still friends, and that’s not going to change.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response. He felt like Ruan Xiu had spoken in a rather roundabout way, but she had also somehow clarified the situation better than he had.

“Does Ning Yao like you as well?” Ruan Xiu asked.

“She does,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile.

“Why do you have to think so much, Chen Ping’an? Why not think more for yourself?” Ruan Xiu asked.

Chen Ping’an didn’t know how to respond.

Ruan Xiu rose to her feet, then dusted herself off as she declared, “Let’s leave it there. I’m suddenly feeling a little hungry, so I’m going back home for a midnight snack.”

Chen Ping’an also rose to his feet as he offered, “Do you want to come over to the bamboo building? I have a bunch of ingredients in my minimization treasure, like dried fish, dried bamboo shoots, bacon, salted meat, and all types of wild vegetables. It should taste quite good all thrown together into a pot, and it won’t take that long to whip up, either.”

“My father is still waiting for me at the foot of the mountain. I’m worried that if I stay up here any longer, he’ll storm up the mountain and cook you up instead!” Ruan Xiu chuckled.

Chen Ping’an wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“I’m going now, there’s no need to escort me,” Ruan Xiu said as she waved him farewell.

“I have to go down the mountain as well, so I’ll escort you to the crossroads,” Chen Ping’an said.

The two of them made their way down the mountain together at a leisurely pace.

The two of them parted ways at the crossroads, and Ruan Xiu continued to make her way down the mountain, while Chen Ping’an returned to the bamboo building.

————

Outside Downtrodden Mountain.

Wei Bo was standing beside Ruan Qiong, while the latter was seated on a large rock.

“Are you really not going to take a look on Downtrodden Mountain, Mr. Ruan? If I’m too much of an eyesore, then I can leave, and I promise you that I won’t eavesdrop on you,” Wei Bo offered with a smile.

Ruan Qiong took a sip of wine, then shook his head as he replied, “I’m not that insecure. I may not trust Chen Ping’an, but I have full trust in my own daughter.

Wei Bo was rendered speechless.

If you really trust your daughter, then why did you sneak here in the middle of the night?

Ruan Qiong continued to drink, while Wei Bo stood beside him in silence.

All of a sudden, Ruan Qiong asked, “Who do you think will be the future emperor of the Great Li Empire?”

Wei Bo wasn’t worried about anyone eavesdropping on him. Anyone who dared to do so on the territory of the Northern Mountain surely had a death wish.

As for Old Man Yang, he wouldn’t care about such a trivial conversation.

Wei Bo considered the question for a moment, then replied, “At the moment, it looks like both Song He and Song Jixin have a chance. Of course, Song He’s chances are better. He has a very solid foundation in the imperial court, so his instatement as emperor would be considered more legitimate.

“As for Song Jixin, it’s really only the Ministry of Rites that has secretly placed some bets on him out of desperation more than anything else. In any case, none of that is really important. Ultimately, the decision will be made by two people, and the empress is not one of them. I think Song Changjing and Cui Chan will make a final decision that will be surprising to everyone.”

“The timing of the emperor’s passing was rather convenient,” Ruan Qiong remarked.

Wei Bo smiled and offered no response.

Ruan Qiong was a top-tier guest elder of the Great Li Empire and the number one swordsmith on the entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, so he had powerful friends all over the continent. On top of that, he had never completely severed his ties with the Wind Snow Temple, and no one was of the opinion that he had actually turned on his former sect.

Otherwise, that sword immortal from the Wind Snow Temple wouldn’t have been seen on that Dragon Slaying Platform cliff. Instead, it would’ve been a case of Ruan Qiong cutting off the Wind Snow Temple altogether to split the Dragon Slaying Platform evenly with True Martial Mountain.

As for Wei Bo, he was an official mountain god appointed by the Song Clan, so it was best for him to avoid making subversive remarks against the Song Clan as much as possible.

He could speak freely on the two princes, as well as the feudal lord and the imperial preceptor, but he had personally appointed the position of the Northern Mountain God by the late emperor of the Great Li Empire, and that was something that he had to remember.

Hence, whenever the subject of Song Zhengchun’s passing came up, he always chose to remain silent, whether it be in his conversation with Ruan Qiong or the old flood dragon from the Yellow Court Nation.

A young woman appeared in the distance, and she didn’t appear to have been walking very quickly, but she was deceptively fast, drifting onto the scene like a plume of smoke.

Ruan Xiu gave Wei Bo a nod, then turned to her father as she said, “What a coincidence, Father. Have you come here to take a stroll as well?”

Ruan Qiong nodded in response and casually tossed away the empty wine flagon in his hand, while Wei Bo bade the two farewell and promptly departed.

Ruan Qiong opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it in the end. Instead, he pulled another flagon of wine from his minimization treasure, then removed the clay seal to continue drinking.

“I ran into Chen Ping’an on Downtrodden Mountain just now,” Ruan Xiu said with a smile.

“What a coincidence,” Ruan Qiong replied.

Like father, like daughter.

Ruan Xiu relayed her conversation with Chen Ping’an to her father, slightly altering some of the things that were said while preserving the overall intent.

Ruan Qiong took a large swig of wine, then wiped the back of his hand across his mouth as he grumbled, “Is he blind? Why doesn’t he like you? Who gave him the courage to dare not to like you?!”

Ruan Xiu remained silent with a faint smile on her face.

Ruan Qiong took another large swig of wine to extinguish his fury, and after a brief silence, he continued, “Having said that, he’s a decent enough man. There are many men out there who are constantly getting into entanglements with multiple women, so I suppose I can’t fault him for that.”

A suspicious look then suddenly appeared on his face as he speculated, “Could it be that after traveling for five years, he’s become more cunning and is intentionally saying this so that I let down my guard against him?”

Ruan Xiu remained silent as she turned to her father with a hint of disdain in her eyes.

“He’s probably not that much of a scumbag,” Ruan Qiong said in a sheepish manner.

A puzzled look then appeared on his face as he asked, “Why is it that you don’t seem unhappy at all, Xiuxiu? Tell me the truth, do you like Chen Ping’an or not? I’m only going to ask you this once, and I’ll never ask again, so you’re not allowed to lie to me.”

Ruan Xiu smiled as she waved her hands vigorously and replied, “Not at all.”

“If I were to get into a fight with Chen Ping’an, who would you help?” Ruan Qiong asked in a suspicious manner.

“You, of course!” Ruan Xiu replied in a categorical manner.

Ruan Qiong was very pleased to hear this.

All of a sudden, he whipped his head around to examine Ruan Xiu’s expression, only to find that it was earnest to a fault.

“Don’t stay out too late.”

With his heart put at ease, Ruan Qiong rose up into the air and flew away as a streak of light.

Ruan Xiu continued to stroll casually through the forest until she arrived at a stream. She crouched down beside the stream and cupped her hands together to scoop up some water, using its rippling surface as a mirror to reflect the moon.

Over at the bamboo building on Downtrodden Mountain, Chen Ping’an was just about to sit down on his own at the stone table for a moment when he was grabbed by Cui Chan’s grandfather and wrenched up to the second floor.

Immediately thereafter, he was struck by a kick to the abdomen, sending him crashing into the wall. He pressed a hand against the ground and launched himself up into the air, yet before he was able to find stable footing, he was struck by a punch to the forehead with such force that the entire bamboo building shuddered violently amid a resounding boom.

Having just suffered an inexplicable beating, Chen Ping’an wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with the back of his hand, then swore under his breath before yelling, “Why don’t you face me with your cultivation base also at the fifth tier?”

“Sure,” Cui Chan’s grandfather scoffed.

Chen Ping’an charged forward in accordance with his six-step meditation, while Cui Chan’s grandfather remained completely still on the spot.

In fact, he had even clasped one hand behind his back and made a casual beckoning motion with his other hand, challenging Chen Ping’an to make the first attack.

After taking his sixth and final stride, Chen Ping’an stomped his foot heavily down onto the ground, then abruptly changed directions without any warning, launching himself toward the open door.

Sword Immortal flew out of its scabbard at his behest, and he jumped onto it before racing away.

He could accept sparring for training purposes, but clearly, that wasn’t the intention of Cui Chan’s grandfather. Instead, he seemed infuriated for some reason and was using Chen Ping’an as a punching bag, and that was unacceptable.

Cui Chan’s grandfather didn’t immediately swat Chen Ping’an out of the sky. Instead, he mused to himself, “You’re not exactly a dull young man, so why is it that you become such an idiot when it comes to romance? You’re still so young, yet it’s like you’ve experienced the heartbreak of an entire lifetime! How absurd!”

Cui Chan’s grandfather waited for a moment, then leaped onto the railing outside the room before unleashing his Rain Evaporation Technique.

Chen Ping’an thought that he had escaped the ordeal, and he was planning to do some moon-gazing to improve his mood, only to be knocked down from the heavens along with his sword.

After that, Cui Chan’s grandfather casually pressed a palm downward, and a gust of fierce wind came howling down like a waterfall, blowing Chen Ping’an into the forest below before he had a chance to regain his footing atop Sword Immortal, then sent him crashing down into a stream with an almighty splash.

The stream wasn’t very deep, and he stood up unsteadily before returning Sword Immortal to the scabbard on his back.

Immediately thereafter, he was greeted by the sight of Ruan Xiu crouched beside the stream, staring at him in a daze.

Chen Ping’an was panting heavily with his hands resting on his knees, and he wiped a hand across his own face as he said in a resigned manner, “We meet again.”

Ruan Xiu nodded in response.

Chen Ping’an was just about to say something when he was inexplicably sent flying into the forest by another punch, following which a familiar, infuriated voice rang out nearby.

“I knew you weren’t going to give up so easily! You came back as soon as it looked like I was gone! Stay away from my daughter, you two-faced scoundrel!”

Immediately thereafter came another punch, this one severing the stream into two.

Chen Ping’an could only call upon Sword Immortal again, and he was only just barely able to evade the punch as he fled the scene atop his flying sword, but that was far from the end of his ordeal.

In the end, he was forced to use even his Inch Movement Talismans, and while fleeing for his life, he murmured to himself, “Where’s Wei Bo when you need him?”

He then spotted the white-robed Wei Bo out of his peripheral vision, standing on an ancient tree with a smile on his face as he asked, “Did somebody call?”

His voice wasn’t very loud, but it was clearly audible to Chen Ping’an, and he crashed headfirst into a flurry of ripples.

In the next instant, he found himself standing on the summit of Cloud Drape Mountain, and he collapsed to the ground as a massive wave of relief washed over him.

Thankfully, Wei Bo hadn’t stabbed him in the back.

Over at the stream, Ruan Qiong grabbed onto Ruan Xiu’s shoulder, and the two of them vanished from the spot, returning to the Dragon Spring Sword Sect in a flash.

Upon their return, Ruan Qiong personally cooked up a midnight feast, and Ruan Xiu sat down across from him with a wide smile.

Ruan Qiong heaved an internal sigh.

Short-term sorrow was always preferable to long-term heartbreak.

Over on Cloud Drape Mountain.

Wei Bo bent down with a smile to help the exhausted Chen Ping’an to his feet.

“Tonight was like a dream,” Chen Ping’an said with a wry smile.

Wei Bo raised a hand to the heavens, and moments later, an azure sparrow descended out of the sea of clouds above the mountain summit before landing on the palm of his hand.

He carried the bird with one hand while gently sweeping his other sleeve through the air, and a white cloud cushion appeared behind Chen Ping’an, who sat down onto it with his legs crossed.

Wei Bo raised his hand slightly, and the sparrow returned to the clouds above.

“Chen Ping’an, from the contents of the letters that you sent to Cloud Drape Mountain and that conversation that I had with Cui Dongshan last time, I’ve noticed something that even you may not have noticed yourself,” Wei Bo suddenly said.

“What is it?” Chen Ping’an asked.

After learning to play Go from Cui Dongshan, retrospection had become a regular activity for him, particularly during his time in Bamboo Scroll Lake.

Wei Bo cast his gaze into the distance. As a mountain god, he was able to see through the clouds with ease to observe the Dragon Whisker River, and the Iron Talisman River, as well as the Embroidered Flower River and the Fine Wine River even further away near Red Candle Town.

“The blessing that Ruan Xiu received from the Jewel Small World was that fire dragon that resides on her wrist in the form of a bracelet, right?” Wei Bo asked.

Chen Ping’an nodded in response. This was no secret.

“Mr. Qi bestowed upon you those mountain and water seals, but the mountain seal was destroyed during the battle in the Flood Dragon Trench, leaving only the water seal. After that, you encountered that bridal ghost in that Beautiful Water Noble Wind manor on the bank of the Embroidered Flower River, following which you encountered the Burial River Goddess on the Parasol Leaf Continent.

“I heard that you also made some inscriptions on the wall of a water god temple in the Azure Phoenix Nation before you traveled to the Lion Garden. You also encountered the nefarious White Swan River God during your time in the Yellow Court Nation’s Purple Sun Residence. If you look back throughout all of these interactions, it quickly becomes clear that you have great affinity with water, while your fate is far less intertwined with mountains.

“I’m one of the only mountain gods that you have any ties with, and even though you’ve encountered some mountain gods during your journey, you don’t have much memory of any of them, isn’t that right? On top of that, you’ve been residing in Bamboo Scroll Lake for the past few years, and that’s bound to deepen your affinity with water even further.”

Chen Ping’an carefully considered all of this, then nodded in agreement with Wei Bo’s assessment.

“Have you forgotten who that little catfish initially chose? It was you, Chen Ping’an, not Gu Can! Have you considered how your deep ties with water will affect your relationship with Ruan Xiu? There is no battle of the Great Dao more classic than that between water and fire!” Wei Bo continued in a concerned manner.

Chen Ping’an faltered slightly upon hearing this, while Wei Bo heaved a forlorn sigh.

All of a sudden, a smile appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face, and he pointed at Sword Immortal on his back as he said, “It’s fine. If there really is to be a battle of water and fire between me and Ruan Xiu, then I’ll just have to give way to her.

“I am a swordsman, and my Great Dao lies on the path of martial arts. My plight is to embark on long journeys and strive to hone the most powerful fist and the sharpest sword, so our Great Daos will never truly conflict with one another.”

This was the first time in several years that he had looked so full of vigor and exuberance, and he declared, “I will share a drink with those who are good and principled, and I will raise my fists and my sword to all of the injustices that I encounter. I hope that someday, I will become a living embodiment of the principles that I abide by!”